Bard/Strategy
Champion Spotlight Recommended Items Tips ;Playing As * It's important to collect to improve your attacks, but don't neglect your lane partner! Try to make a big entrance by bringing an ally into the lane with you with . * Let your s charge up - they heal for a lot more when at full power. * Don't forget that enemies can also use your doorways, and that your can also hit your allies! ;Playing Against * Bard's opponents can also travel through his doorways. You can follow him, if you think it's safe. * You can crush Bard's just by walking over them. Don't let his allies take them without a fight. * Bard's ultimate, , affects allies, enemies, monsters, and turrets alike. Sometimes it can be to your advantage to jump into it! Playstyle Ability Usage * Communicate with your ADC when you're absent from lane to ward and collect - it will be easier for him to judge the distance between you two and avoid unfavourable situations. * Coordinate with the Jungler or Mid, feign collecting and set up ganks using . * Starting with will allow you to harass your lane opponents really well. You can also start with to help your Jungler with his first clear. * Save your for enemies which follow you through your . * If the one of the enemy players engages try using on other enemies to disrupt their follow-up. * You can use before the fight to catch a high priority target out of position, this is especially effective during late game rotations. * Be especially wary of ruining your teammates' ultimates when using your - try to focus on delaying other enemies rushing to the fight or allies with low health. Runes * is a common keystone on . His apply spell effects, meaning can be activated through one empowered auto-attack and a or simply a second auto-attack. This rune is good for aggressive all-in play styles focused on burst. * can be used for more constant harass through poke, rather than all-in potential. Both and make it difficult to avoid the damage. * provides less damage but has the added benefit of shielding allies when healed by . * is an uncommon but technically viable choice as Bard is more auto-attack focused than other supports. After collecting 30 , Bard can hold three Meeps to be fired in quick succession. * Paths ** is the most common tree for and there are multiple options which can help him support and/or deal damage. *** is the most common and most reliable, being able to be triggered with or . It should be noted that functions with , but it is more useful for teammates to take advantage of this rather than Bard himself. *** is usually the choice for the second slot with its ability to give more vision which is always great on a support. If you want even more damage from your runes you can also run . *** In the third slot is usually the rune of choice with being one of the best stats for champions who roam a lot like . is another strong option as it improves typical support item usage like , , and as well as the ever-important . ** is also frequently taken on , either as the primary tree with or , or as a secondary. runes provide a variety of effects that work well with . *** allows for more poking in lane without running out of mana, making it a good choice in combination with or . *** is a good choice because of love for , making his roaming ability even better. has heavy synergy with Bard's Enchanter-style build, and this rune can grant over 50 AP by itself. *** works well when going for early game harass, while provides good late game stats (particularly when coupled with ). ** has some good defensive tools when needs to default to a more protective healing type support. *** gives a small amount of healing when slowing or stunning an enemy. This healing is also able to activate , making it useful in that niche. *** helps prevent being blown up in a single combo, but this should only be as a last resort since should never be in the middle of a fight. *** is arguably the most useful secondary in this tree as it increases . This affects as well as the shield from and the heals from and , not to mention stacking additively with other buffs. ** The tree has some useful tools for as it does for almost all other champions. *** is always valuable, especially when going for . The are best purchased early on, making this rune slightly ineffective. Instead you may opt for . It too is valuable on its own, and you may wish to take it if you plan on buying at some point in the game. *** is an all around strong rune and is great for sustaining through a tough harass lane. *** is another rune that works great in all situations on nearly all champions, and is no exception. Items * is classified as a Controller, but his build is typically more that of an Enchanter's, utilizing a mix of AP, Cooldown Reduction, and stats. He is also quite different from typical supports, and he deals more damage than most other Controllers. He can play as an aggressive lane bully, but he also has the tools to keep himself and his allies safe. This means that there are many options for , including some items which may not be viable on other AP supports. ** / is the obvious choice for a support item. The poke provided from this item adds to 's already high poke damage and he should have no trouble earning Tribute stacks. *** The line is viable, but only recommended if the enemy lane will play very passively. ** Among his core items are and . Both provide Cooldown Reduction and , allowing to heal up his allies multiple times in a fight. in particular grants valuable damage not only to but to the allies he heals. ** For choice of boots, it comes down to and . The former is the standard choice for supports and aids 's roaming nicely. The latter is good when combined with to give some extra AP at or around the level 10 mark. ** is a pseudo-mage item that provides a very high amount of AP for the price. The Spooky Ghosts active can be used to hunt down enemy champions and tag them with . ** is another quintessential Enchanter item. When combined with a full Enchanter build, it grants a surprisingly high amount of AP, in addition to providing even more healing for the team. *** It may be wise to purchase a early on as a cheap source of mana regen and magic resist. As you build more mana regen items, you will also get a large amount of health regen from the Harmony passive. *** is a situational alternative to . The cleanse effect on an ally can singlehandedly win a fight and you also get to keep the Harmony passive. ** can be picked up for extra armor, but is mainly purchased for the Stasis effect. If planning to buy this item, it is recommended to take the rune to speed up purchasing as the item itself is expensive for a support. ** provides a small amount of HP and AP along with an impressive amount of mana regen. While himself does not benefit much from the movement active, it may be crucial for escaping or for allies who want to chase down the enemy team. * also has a few offensive options at his disposal, which may prove useful to capitalize on a large lead. It is not recommended to buy these items in a typical support match. ** synergizes well with 's passive. The high AP will make each deal significant damage, and the Attack Speed will allow him to throw these Meeps in quick succession once he has gathered a few of them. The on-hit damage scales with any other AP items you may purchase. *** is an item that is similar to in that it grants Attack Speed and on-hit damage. The damage is based on level and does not rely on AP, and it is a cheaper alternative with good Magic Resist. ** If you are massively fed or just looking to trade in an item in the super-late game, is always available for AP supports who want to have a ton of AP. Although only has one damaging ability, the extra AP does affect the ratios of both and . Countering * Bard's really mobile and can set up good ganks with his and . Be careful when he's missing! * Note the position of his . At some point he will try to collect them and might be an easy picking. Category:Champion strategies Category:Bard